Sachibondu

A rural health centre based in Sachibondu and started by a missionary from Bristol, Ruth Wallis, does incredible work with minimal resources. In Zambia, 1 in 13 women die in childbirth and 8.3% of children die before their 5th birthday, often due to a lack of access to healthcare. But the centre here provides midwifery, general medicine and AIDS-related work and counseling in a bush area that lacks other medical facilities. Many patients walk for countless kilometres to receive treatment.

Ruth Wallis died in March 2016. She was a remarkable woman who served faithfully in Zambia for 45 years. It would be impossible to measure the impact she had on the nation and the thousands of people she nursed, cared for and supported. It is estimated that there were over 2000 people at her funeral.

The work of the health centre goes on. Recently they have been able to improve and extend their facilities. Thanks to generous donations from our supporters, Bridge has been able to fund a borehole to secure a safe water supply (kindly donated by St Mary’s Church, Olveston) and regularly sends out funds from our donors. It is remarkable how often we are told that money we have sent has arrived at just the right time to mend the roof, pay an outstanding bill for medicines and so on.